Reflection – A World of Media

July 26, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Welcoming New Dirt

Silly, though that statement may be, it still has a profound meaning within the constructs of one’s home. And while abroad, this statement will remain with us if we take the time to apply it in our at-home lives.

While traveling, it’s certainly important to be in the moment with each of the everyday items that requires our participation (walking, meeting, writing, planning, etc.). But one of the few things that we rarely engage in while on the road is the action of cleaning.

We clean our clothes, we take showers – some of us might even polish shoes or hats (I am one of these people). But generally while we’re traveling we don’t do the same type of cleaning as we do at home. And this might not seem important (or even noticeable) to most people. So it might just as well go without note that our bodies actually miss the experience of cleaning our spaces.

I realize that this is an odd statement to make – especially for those who would just as soon lounge on the beach with a martini than to sweep the kitchen floor yet another time. But cleaning has a way of giving us the opportunity to see things from a different perspective than we normally have.

Cleaning really doesn’t benefit us in the same way that other actions do. It doesn’t get any more of our pages edited from our new book. It doesn’t get the financial reports in on time. It doesn’t walk the dog or take the kids to school. But it’s important nonetheless.

Cleaning isn’t just an act of making things shinier. When we’re in the moment of cleansing our space, we are engaging that place within us that transforms internal intentions into physical action which ultimately rejuvenates an environment. So it’s much grander than the connotation that the word “chores” brings with it.

Philosophically speaking, the dust that moved around us while doing the things in the past has eventually sifted down onto the floor. And so these little particles, which will remain until they have been swept away, represent the other types of work that we’ve previously engaged in. Sweeping them away clears a metaphorical workspace for new activities, more work and therefore more progress. And once swept away, these particles will be replaced by the remnants of our future efforts.

So in this way the action of cleaning means something much more subtle, yet no less profound, to our inner selves. Taking off to travel also means leaving that activity behind. And whether or not we find ourselves with white sand and bottomless martinis or a dusty road with an endless horizon, we will continue to create, progress and carry on.

So the next time we return home we should welcome this time to clean. When sweeping, mopping or scrubbing, we should be in the moment of not only cleaning the physical elements of the past from our space, but also welcoming the growth that this new, clean space will allow us to manifest. And the next time we find ourselves remiss of our cleaning duties, we’ll still be able to rely on our pattern of welcoming new dirt.

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If you liked the photo from this journal, why not visit the album from Bangkok HERE.

July 24, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Assessing time

Time means many different things, depending on where one might find themselves around the world.

There’s no denying that many of us have felt the impact of that very statement while lazing away in a hammock as waves crash down on the nearby beach. Time, in that way, is only measured in terms of the piña coladas that separate the day into more of a detached sequence of sonatas playing out a in a grander symphony of relaxation.

On the other hand, those of us who’ve missed our bus to get to our downtown jobs know the very essence of even a single minute that passes through time. Each minute, in this case, is more akin to a measure of frustration that shapes our realization that tardiness may cost us much more than the sip of a tropical drink.

These two extremes mark the very fringes of our expectation of time. And most of us reside somewhere in the middle. But when we visit a new place, we should be sure to pay close attention to what time might mean in the current location.

In the west, being punctual shows others that we are professional, dedicated and that others’ time is important to us. In the east, however, being late might actually work in your favor, as it can also be seen to mean that a person knows his level of importance and therefore his lateness is the expression of that concept.

More times than not, our expectation of time while traveling abroad simply relates to the ability to catch a bus or that a train will arrive on the scheduled time. But it is important to be mindful that this may not be a frivolous matter when dealing interpersonally with those who expect certain things of us.

Being invited to ceremonial events such as weddings, family feasts or annual celebrations hold a completely different prospect for those who did the inviting. When in doubt of how to handle these occasions, it’s always best to show up early. Having this in mind will keep us from looking as though we are either too humble and self-conscious, or too egotistical and feel that others should wait on us.

Developing this pattern while abroad may well be the catalyst for continuing this beneficial trend at home as well.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

Like the photo from this journal? Click HERE to visit the album of photography from the Samchoek, South Korea market where I took it.

July 19, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Look at what you’ve done

Finding what we’re passionate about comes easy for some. Creating music, painting a portrait or taking a beautiful photograph seems simply to be in some people’s blood. For those of us who are blessed to have that kind of talent, it’s a marvel even to sit in their presence and watch them work.

For most of us, however, finding, exploring and possibly mastering a specific craft seems a bit harder to reach. The apex of our efforts, then, becomes realizing a goal that we may have set for ourselves to one day get to a point of mastery within our interests that drives us to continually do better. And as we chip away at the rough outer edges of the product that will eventually be our life’s work, many of us experience extreme moments of satisfaction along the way.

On the other hand, while it seems nearly impossible to imagine, there are so many of us who simply pass right by this experience of self-gratitude and just keep working – never becoming aware of the amazing accomplishments that we’ve created along the way.

Having a creative outlet is important. Dedicating ourselves to one or more items in this life rewards us in many ways. But if we never turn around to gaze over the ground we’ve covered in our endeavors, these amazing accomplishments fall by the wayside to the one person who they should matter to the most – ourselves.

When we get busy creating something in our lives that others will enjoy and benefit from, keep in mind that if we don’t also enjoy the fruits of our labors, we may be little more than slaves to our own craft. And eventually, under these conditions, our craft will fail and ultimately our engagement in this lifestyle will seem as pointless as the efforts that were never appreciated along the way.

When we find ourselves at a pausing-point in our work, we should always take the opportunity to look at what we’ve done and smile quietly to ourselves at the brilliant new thing that we’ve given back to the world that has sustained us. It is important that we don’t become callous, prideful or an overindulgent in self-advocacy. But if we are involved in our activities because our efforts were truly inspired from a place within us, our gratitude will never fail to fill us with a sense of unending humility.

And that, alone, is worth a lifetime of work.

Do you agree or disagree? Tell me in the comments.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

If you like this photo, check out the Canada album it was taken from in 2005 HERE.

July 17, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Using Your Presence

It’s only in recent years that I have come to realize just how much physical space I take up – and therefore, how I must come across to people. I am quite a big person, standing 6’4” (193cm) and weighing 230 lbs (104kg). In addition, my first reaction when I am engaging in stimulating conversation is to become animated and to shape my words with my hands and my body.

And since many cultures around the world are extremely put off by boisterous movements that are natural to me, many times I’ve missed opportunities of connecting with people for reasons that I never realized at the time.

For those reading this who don’t really have any way to relate, I’d have to say that it’s a bit like being a fully grown Labrador retriever that still thinks it’s a lap-dog. It’s a big, fumbling animal that reacts cluelessly to its owners’ attempts to get it to understand it’s all grown up. Except, most people are too polite to ever tell me that I am intimidating them with my loud presence and quick hand movements.

Over the years I’ve learned that I need to curb my activities when I speak to others and sculpt my words less with the motion in my hands and more with the choice of my words. This, of course, allows the person I am speaking to to be less focused on these big, swinging arms that I am waiving around and more on my topic. I also notice that when I speak with young people, it’s better that I fold my hands together behind my back or place them in my pockets and not square up my shoulders to them so as to not seem too physically engaging.

There are many other examples of the conscious effort I make not to subconsciously affront people. But suffice it to say that we all expend a great deal of energy communicating our information to others. So it makes sense that we should also pay a certain amount of attention to whether or not these efforts may be misaligned or misdirected.

There’s really no way to measure how much of what we say comes across differently than we intend. The best we can hope to do is to come close to getting our ideas out there. But if we take the time to investigate how we come across to others, we can maximize our efforts and use our best attributes to our advantage.

This will also go a long way in letting us know of items in our lives or about our appearance that we might like to change or do away with altogether. After all, if what we’re trying to communicate is only lost in a sea of actions or visual attributes that are working counter to our aims, we would benefit from knowing of that which stands in the way of our interpersonal contact with others.

This may well be the difference between connecting with people in that new place that we visit along our travels, and missing opportunity after opportunity to get a deeper sense of the foreign cultures which we’re exploring.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

Like the photo from this journal? Click HERE to see the photos from this year’s Thaipusam Festival at the Batu Cave in Malaysia.

July 12, 2013

Insights from the pavement: Know you know what’s best

We are the only experts on our own lives. And we are the only ones who know us as uniquely and as intimately as “us.” But while there is no shortage of people that will tell us what’s best, no one has the qualifications necessary to tell us what we’re most suited for in this life.

Each of our journeys through this life is unique. That’s why they are called personal journeys. And because of that, we are in the captain’s chairs of our own vehicles. We may choose to have others along for this trip. But just as they will experience an immensely different perspective under the exact same circumstances, we, too, will come away with a completely different experience.

If we sit and think about it, we’ve always had a very unique sense of what it is like to be ourselves. We felt a certain way as children. We loved someone along the way. We had interests and objectives that we pursued. And in each of these instances, no one could have done them the way we did.

And it is from this very same source that we draw our inherent knowledge of how to navigate the waters of our own lives with our own sense of guidance. And besides the comforts of shelter and clothing, the necessity of food and protection from the elements, the keys to survival were evolutionarily implanted within each of us as they were with the countless individuals that came before us.

On the road, this is an observation that is clear and abundant. People farm the land and cultivate the food that we share. They live in the rat race or they create the art that we enjoy in the world’s museums and galleries. They build structures and make various forms of textiles and clothing. And in each place it seems to happen a little differently than the next.

And if this is nothing else, it’s a perfect metaphor for the individual inclination to chart our own course and to make the notion of surviving look a lot more like thriving.

We should take the opportunity that everyday offers and look at the person that we are. We should assess our strengths and weaknesses in terms of how they relate to our interests. This will give us an accurate mold of what our true path should look like. This can only be done by ourselves and it is imperative that brutal honesty be employed in analyzing the various facets that will go into this assessment.

But once we’ve made the effort of taking stock of our lives, we’ll be unendingly rewarded by a tangible draft of how our lives might be best served and by the best advice available to us – our own.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

Like the photo from this journal? Click HERE to see the album from Laos that I shot when I made my way through in 2010.

July 10, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Embracing the process of emotional release

All too often we find ourselves denying our bodies and minds the peace and comfort of simply letting go of societal pressures and embracing our true emotions. It’s apparent that travel seemingly forces us to do this at many turns. But what about when we’re in our home lives? Generally we’re expected to be emotionless unless that emotion happens to agree with the mood of the room.

Why is this? Where did this start? And why is it that sacrificing our natural inclination toward response and release for the good of the group is seen as the expected notion?

This can come from a variety of sources and for a variety of factors. The most prominent is, oddly enough, our friends and family. Those closest to us are the most effective vehicles for transmitting those unspoken messages specifically because they share such a deep and interactive relationship.

Generally speaking – and even without any spoken confirmation – we are expected to keep up a certain level of pretense with those around us. Even our most intimate of friends may still have a deeply engrained sense of what we “should” act like or how we “ought to” react to given situations. And this isn’t always the first, natural reaction that our bodies may feel the need to express.

Another source of this can be our profession. At the workplace, it’s frowned upon to see an employee expressing themselves in a manner that is not ultimately adding to the productivity of their job. And while this is understandable, it still doesn’t mean that we should deny our natural inclination to get out our feelings as they happen.

It is when we keep our emotions bottled up inside that we have the most trouble and this can lead to anxiety, sleep loss, unhealthy weight loss, bad eating habits and more. And because of all these related health and personal risks, we miss work, over sleep and come to work late, can’t pay attention during working hours and on and on. And that’s just on the productivity end. So is it really the best thing to do to keep these items pent up inside? How good for productivity is that, in the end?

There are many other instances where our need to express ourselves comes at times when others simply don’t want to hear it. But we should always remember that when our friends find themselves facing emotionally heightened circumstances, they are sure to remember how we offered them an open and comfortable forum for expressing their emotions when it’s time for us to ask the same of them.

And this is a universal concern that faces every country in the world. There’s no escaping it. And because there is also no escaping our need for emotion release, it is wise to take time to find creative ways to express these emotions.

Traveling, itself, can be an amazing release of stress. But even on the road, there needs to be a continuum of options for getting out our frustrations. Journaling, meditating, exercising, running – even sleeping – can all be great ways to calm the mind and attain balance.

No matter if we find ourselves on the road or at the office, taking a moment or planning a future moment when the time is right to get that release is of the utmost importance.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

Like the photo from this journal? Click HERE to visit the album from Thailand’s Andaman coast.

July 3, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Being Present

The world outside ourselves is sometimes hard to reach even in the most beautiful places.

Just because we’re in awe-inspiring locales, it doesn’t mean that we’re open to being awed. And while it’s important to address the source of this distraction, it’s also important to remember that this moment is more important than what can immediately be gained by the worry attached to that distraction.

Having taken the necessary steps to put ourselves out in the world to experience each moment of adventure, we come to be more in tune with these moments as they present themselves.

HundredIslands1919_resizeCr — Stopping to smell the flowers, Alaminos, Philippines.

The term, “stop and smell the roses,” takes on an illustrious, new meaning when we’re standing in front of flowers that we’ve never seen before and which don’t exist back home. And every time we pass on the opportunity to take in the full flavor of each moment is an occasion that we may later regret. In most cases, the only time that we’re able to fully conceive of what we’ve missed along our path is once that journey has ended. And by then, it’s simply too late.

This is one of the amazing lessons that is engrained in our very core from our time abroad. And for those of us who have exercised the option to take off and explore these intimate moments that make up the greater experience of travel, are the ones most likely to literally pause for just long enough to embrace and fully take in those moments.

The next time we find ourselves in a time and place where we realize that we may never have the opportunity to experience it again, we should always remember to be present in that moment, to notice the little details that brought that moment into being, and to simple be with the time that exists for us right then and there.

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Like the photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.

My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.

Join the conversation, tell me what you think about this idea. Leave your comments below.

June 28, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Study Something

Because of the way that the human brain works, most of us have an innate gravitation toward intellectual pursuits. Before going to college, most might say that they never knew that they were interested in subject that they never would have otherwise seen as intriguing. Afterward they may find that they are excited to begin the process of dedicating their entire lives to this “exciting new field.” This is because we are creative thinkers. And therefore when we find something that entices us, we have the capacity to remain focused on that item.

This manifests itself in countless different ways depending on the various characteristics that we receive when we’re born. But we can all use these characteristics to our advantage – it’s no excuse to be lazy. On the road or at home, we can always be diving into academic pursuits that satisfy that inner geek.

Each time we encounter something that might spark our interest, we have an opportunity to exhaust and expand the options surrounding it. We have the opportunity to expound upon known items, or to discover new ones. We can create new, right-brained art that complements or represents the intricacies of our new found items. Or we can publish scholarly works based on our left-brained investigations of them.

The brain is just like a muscle in that when we exercise it, it becomes stronger. Flex that muscle, utilize the tenacity for artistic and intellectual pursuits and ready yourself for the many benefits that come with being more mindful, having a more developed sense of perception and finding yourself excited to learn and do more in the name of mental grace.

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Like this photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.

My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.

Join the conversation, tell me what you think about this idea. Leave your comments below.

June 26, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Speaking with Integrity

Words have meaning. We’ve all heard that before. They all have applications to which we apply different significance and understanding. We use them to craft our expressions, to shape our ideas and to bring vibrancy to our thoughts.

But they are more then just the symbol of their definition or a designation to the characterization of an idea. They truly do mean something.

When we think about something, we are manifesting our creative energies into a melding of many things. What is created is an amalgamation of logic, initiative, intuition, agenda, emotion, experience and many, many other things.

The words that we choose to put to these conglomerations are, quite literally, all our own. They are unique to us and, because they are the chosen sum of all our creative senses, intellectual machinations and emotional responses, they can never truly mean to someone else what they mean to us. They can come close, but they will never really vibrate in others’ ears as they do in ours.

It is because of this reason that words have so much power. When we speak them, we own them. When speaking from the heart or at times of passion, they are generated from the same place where we receive the inspiration for our hopes and dreams. They come from the same place that makes us feel sad when we wrong someone or miss someone we love. When we profess them, it is our truth. We are held accountable to our words as they are our oldest mode of transferring the information within us.

Words are our key to the gates of communication. They are the platform on which we are represented. And, most importantly, they are broadcast as a sampling of our own culture when we communicate in foreign places.

And believe it or not, they are not put together the same way in each place we go. Essentially, they are an individually selected consignment of ideas – complete with tonality, emotional communication, personal meaning, ingrained undertones and countless other facets of expression. They’re even delivered in a package exclusive to their maker – our own voice. And this remains a universal constant, no matter where we might find ourselves.

When speaking to others, we must ensure that we use this important method of communication to its fullest potential. When we speak with integrity, we are helping to ensure that our true passion is expressed; that our real feelings come across; that we respect the thoughts of others and further their support with words of our own; that we are contributing to the exponentially increasing pool of positivity, wisdom and expression; and that we can be counted as inimitable patrons of forward-thinking construction of intellectual infrastructure affording embracement in the diversity of our own humanity.

In other words, think positively, speak positively and offer your unique perspective to the endless possibilities for change, unity and ascension.

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Like this photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.

My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.

Join the conversation, tell me what you think about this idea. Leave your comments below.

June 21, 2013

Insights from the Pavement: Placing Ourselves along the Path

Not withstanding a spiritual base, we are beings of forethought and of memory. We can mentally transport back in time or forward in thought to places of fondness or profundity. But it is impossible for us to physically experience anything outside of our immediate surroundings. Because of that, our only true reality is found in the present moment.

The good news is that we all have the ability to make that particular moment mean something – minute to minute, if we choose. And this opens the floodgates to a sea of possibilities. We can find ourselves at any place on earth – barring few exceptions. And if we realize that it is only ourselves that stand in the way of making our current moment a positive and enjoyable one, we will be much more likely to take the reins and be the change that we wish to see in the world.

While our governments and our communities have regulations, this life has no rules governing our movement or our creativity. We are free to live it as we choose; to go where we wish; to make the memories that we choose to make; to create or to appreciate the creations of others; to learn or to teach; to explore or settle down. We can do this with partners or all alone. This journey can last decades or just moments. It’s completely up to us.

This may sound like an intimidating responsibility. But once we accept the idea that we all have this responsibility and, more importantly, that we have always had it, it becomes much less threatening. And it’s not always applicable to the heavy decisions that our lives encounter. But it’s nevertheless ubiquitous and it constantly influences which path we choose to take.

Many times I’ve wished that someone could make the hard choices in my life for me. It would be so much nicer to just let go of the responsibility. And I am sure I share this sentiment with many others. But we, alone, make the choices along the path we take. And therefore we are the ones who benefit from the grand and distinctive results that these choices place in our lives. And in that, we are not only made better from our time facing these challenges, we also become much more intimately aware of our placement along the path that our lives reveal to us.

Knowing, appreciating and embracing this will do more to free us up for the positive changes in our lives than any other conscious action we can make. And never are we more aware of these opportunities than during our time moving about the world, experiencing new cultures, taking in strange, new surroundings and exploring each moment along this path with veracity and enthusiasm.

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Like this photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.

My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.

Join the conversation, tell me what you think about this idea. Leave your comments below.